


Fine Dining in Style

by bethcaves



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Overwatch Retribution
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-20
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-03 04:05:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16318817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bethcaves/pseuds/bethcaves
Summary: Jesse goes to a fancy restaurant and learns a couple things.





	Fine Dining in Style

**Author's Note:**

> So... I've actually had this as a draft for like a year and then I decided to finally do it justice during this years McGenji week... Unfortunately real life got in the way so here it is now, I guess.
> 
> Funny story: This is actually based on irrelevnat banter from when my friends and I went on vacation to Italy last summer, where we also visited Venice... so imagine my shock when Retribution came around. I tried to make it fit a bit. Not sure how much i succeeded. (Also Moira's mentioned like once because she wasn't around when this was being written)

Being shoved into a completely new environment isn’t exactly easy. It’s not the first time Jesse had to suffer through this, he was a bit smarter this time around and tried to keep any nervous tics at bay. This whole society he entered was unfamiliar, but not in way that was enticing to him. His occasional fumbling left him feeling scoffed at. God knows whether that was real or a fabrication of his anxieties.

He shouldn't feel bad about it either, this wasn't who he was. He never felt ashamed about his background before, felt no need to, and yet here he is, wanting to curl into himself in his chair to avoid scrutiny.

Some people in the restaurant were normal middle-class people, not his people per se, but he felt infinitely closer to them. They were here to have an exciting and pleasant outing to a high class establishment. They weren't what made Jesse feel like a live wire.

The other families there, designer products hanging off of them like apples off trees. Their children playing around with technology he wouldn‘t dream to own even at this point in his life, while being the most annoying and off putting sight as they tried to steal their parents attention from the champagne and chatter.

It's uncomfortable to look at. Thankfully the only one who has a direct sight of it is Genji, all he and Gabe have to suffer through is the incessant conversation from behind their backs. Gabriel turns his head from time to time, for a black ops leader he sure can be conspicuous. Jesse takes in a mouthful of the ice cream and doesn’t pay his commander’s helpless face much attention at all. He thinks since he got dragged here, he should get something pleasant out of the evening.

Genji was sitting opposite to him, quiet and beginning to hunch over. His posture always switched from utterly rigid to nearly forming into a ball. He took off the beanie Gabe provided him He didn't really need to be here, the feast they decided to embark on was solely for Jesse’s benefit, so he wouldn’t feel utterly like a fish out of water on tomorrow‘s sting.

It seemed like a bad move to leave Genji huddled up in the hotel room they all jammed themselves into, and all alone with only Moira for company. Even if that was the way things should be done. Gabe wasn‘t oblivious to Genji and his troubles with making a connection to anyone, be it their comrades from Blackwatch or even agents from Overwatch, they were much easier to approach. Same trauma but infinitely more cheerful, Jesse thought. 

Except the commander wasn't a teacher in primary school who could tell someone to befriend the lonely kid. The lonely kid in primary school wouldn't lash out violently either. Now Genji... that was his forte. Not that anyone could blame him, Jesse certainly didn't, but he wasn't looking for camaraderie somewhere where it simply wasn’t. Genji isn't on his mind terribly often, but how could he not ponder about it when he's sitting right across from him.

Genji has foregone any dessert, while Jesse happily continues to munch on some ice cream and tries not to be too obvious with his staring. He can be stealthy, really, it's just that maybe he wants Genji to notice. Jesse isn't one to give up on people just because they drown in their own bitterness. People didn't give up on him when he was like that. It's something he admires and it's something he genuinely wants to give back to the world.

So here he is, throwing hints Genji's way from time to time, that he could care if he let him. Genji, of course, isn‘t one to look around for help, too drowned in self-pity.

There is a sort of heavy atmosphere above their table, they all willingly choose to ignore it. So far it works. If Genji ever decides to speak up it's not because some social obligation forced it out of him.

Gabe asks for the bill at some point, Jesse entertained the thought of having a post meal drink, but he didn't dare suggest it, too afraid to get a lecture about drinking on the job, no matter that their plan took place first tomorrow evening.

‘How the hell am I supposed to tip them? Do they even tip in Europe?’ Jesse shrugs and leaves it at that. How should he know? Gabe continues to frown at the bill holder. ‘Do I have to go to the bar to pay this?’

‘Actually, you just put it inside. They will take it away and bring back the change. If you want to tip them, say so before they leave with the money.’ Reyes does show enough on his face to let it be known he is sort of impressed. It’s probably easy to forget from what class his new silent and broody subordinate comes from. Or maybe it's just the fact that Genji doesn't speak more than three words at a time unless forced to do otherwise. His focus on the cyborg isn't long lasting though because Gabe has a sixth sense about Jesse McCree, especially his dumb ideas, so he feels something nefarious on his right, and sure enough Jesse’s face is split by a grin. Sometimes when there is an opportunity for mischief, Mccree loses all the self preservation in his body and goes all in.

‘Ya wanna join the other Richie Riches maybe?’ Genji’s eyes were politely, dare one say, serenely averted to the white tablecloth before, but once he processes McCree’s jab they snap up. This time visibly wrinkled with rage.

If the dinner was sort of a trainwreck before because of their questionable restaurant manners and uncertainty in such a place, this just settled it. If the two of them end up knocking each others teeth out Gabe would have to write up the injuries as battle ones. Enough eyes are turned their way already and he doesn't need gossip about the two most valuable members of his squad being at each other's throats. He sighs. Amazingly enough it makes Jesse deflate and Shimada opts to ignore the two of them for the remainder of their time at the establishment. 

On the way back Jesse stumbles next to Reyes, Genji on the other side of him, although he’s falling a mere step behind them as they stroll back to the hotel in the rain. With the silence comes the time to think and in his thoughts he ponders his joke and how he shouldn't have made it. Reyes instructs them to get some rest as Jesse stops in the lobby and looks longingly around. People chat in little groups and he envies them. The commander pays no attention to him and wonders off, most likely to dive straight into his bed. Genji lingers beside him, scanning the room as well. Perhaps he feels the same. Whatever he was contemplating, it didn't turn out in favour of socializing, with him going off in the direction of the stairs instead.

'Off to bed?' Genji freezes, making Jesse uncomfortable with the mechanical halt. Uncanny valley, if Jesse has ever seen it. Genji throws him an icy look and continues ascending without an answer. Jesse shrugs to himself and forces out a fake smile as he goes towards the bar. He can't fool himself into not feeling miserable though.

It isn’t the stupidest decision Jesse McCree’s ever made, nor is it the soundest one. He ends up feeling already drained when he wakes up the next morning. Maybe he will get a chance to talk to Genji and not screw it all up this time. On the other hand he know better than to nurse false hopes at this point at this point in his life. 

He is groggily slipping a sock onto his left foot and dreaming of the first sip of coffee when suddenly a grown man lands almost in his lap. Jesse is too shocked to move as Genji's cold fingers coax his head up and his face undergoes Genji’s scrutiny. It makes him freeze. Genji's cybernetic eyes are soaring, not with anger, but with the usual red hue that’s always there. Jesse has just never seen them so up close, or maybe it's the fact that Genji never held eye contact with him at all. This still doesn't stop him from snatching the flesh wrist as Genji tries to get to his face.

‘Don’t scare me like that. What’s this?’ The object Jesse has trouble properly identifying in Genji's grip is way too pointy to be near his eyes where Genji was aiming. He can hear a muted tut.

‘It is for coverage.’ Jesse frowns and doesn’t loosen his hold at all. ‘You circles under your eyes. You were told to rest properly, and now I have to primp you.’ Jesse’s whole arm goes slack. It makes him all soft, Genji paying attention to him and all that. Things like these don't happen everyday after all. It doesn't happen at all, actually. He might just get the stick Genji’s holding jabbed into his eye but he can't seem to care at this exact moment in time. It seems a small risk, and one that might be worth it.  
He doesn't know what to do with his hands, any position he can think of is awkward and laying a hand on Genji's body just doesn't seem right. He ends up aligning his arms with his body and rest his palms on the bed. It's very slow, the movement, as if not to scare away a timid animal.

Once he finally stops worrying about the position feeling inappropriate and Genji's fingers tilting his head slightly upward shift his attention where it should have been the whole time, he ends up frozen all over again. He doesn't dare fidget nor make a sound. He feels a bit like a deer in the headlights which is ironic because that is how he perceives Genji too.

It's his eyes. Well of course it's his eyes. Everything he came to associate with them is gone. The raw red is still there, still distorting the image, but the rest is gone. His eyes are calm, a side effect of concentration. The anger and sadness and insanity... nowhere to be found. Genji seems to be precise with his work, a change from the wild nature on the battlefield Jesse is used to seeing. Jesse has barely any time to think of the uncomfortable prodding around his eyes. Genji checks his work critically as he finishes assaulting him with a sponge and stands up, somehow less affected. Jesse can‘t tell if he‘s glad that‘s over or not. He sits there dumbstruck, processing this new side off Genji that seems more approachable. That gives him a tiny glimpse of what was, and perhaps more importantly, what could be. He has to wonder what this relapse in Genji's pattern of behaviour means. Just a moment of calmness in the turmoil that is his life now? Only God knows. Jesse, on the other hand, dares to daydream.

Gabriel barks at him when he's sitting, unmoving, for too long and he jumps to get dressed. He checks in the mirror and notes to himself that Genji probably does know what he's doing, the lack of sleep unnoticeable. He doesn't even feel constricted by the fatigue of interrupted rest anymore. Jesse side glances Genji's way, trying not to be too obvious. 

'Okay?' He swipes his hand over his torso as if to smooth the unnatural outfit, uncertain, yet craving anything to come out of Genji. His thoughts about his cyborg colleague are utter confusion right now. Genji turns his head and there it is again.

Genji Shimada's eyes are not calm and their stare prickles on Jesse's skin like usual. It is a relief, familiar ground and all that. It is a disappointment.

Jesse could scream when Gabriel claps him on the shoulder and jokes about him looking better than usual, a good-natured grin reflected in the mirror. It's an official ending to the odd occurrences.

He doesn't hear or see Shimada for the rest of the preparations, he must be huddled in his own corner. Perhaps recovering from before in his own way. Jesse would like to know what's running through that kid's head sometimes, but he really doesn't, and he never will.

This is Jesse's assignment and no one else‘s. He's on his own and as usual his stomach feels as if he were on a boat. He hesitates in the doorway, looking back. Genji is a dark silhouette against the window as he checks his sword, as it needed to be used tonight. It's much more likely that he wilfully ignores Jesse, than that he genuinely didn't notice him there. Jesse looks at him with even more intensity, headstrong as he is. There is nothing different about Genji, he didn't change since they came here. Yet he doesn't just see an anger spike ball in front of himself, he just sees Genji. Whatever that means. It's just a dark blot with a vague human form to it for now, waiting to be coloured in.


End file.
